Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.10

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 15th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the industrial products company on Sunday, January 5th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th.

Graphic Packaging has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years. Graphic Packaging has a dividend payout ratio of 15.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Graphic Packaging to earn $2.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.0%.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 0.5 %

GPK traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $28.25. 1,948,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,557,790. The company has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.28. Graphic Packaging has a one year low of $22.04 and a one year high of $30.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. This represents a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.53.

About Graphic Packaging

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and sells consumer packaging products to brands in food, beverage, foodservice, household, and other consumer products. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging.